Cup holder



March 3, 1959 J. A. KAPPELIER 2,875,966

I I I CUP HOLDER a v 7 Filed, 961:. 29 195;

.IHVEHTOR OHN A. KAPPEL'EJZ v ATTORNEY CUP HOLDER John A. Kappeler,Dayton, Ohio, assignor of one-half to Gertrude C. Kappeler, Dayton, OhioApplication October 29, 1953, Serial No. 389,041 I 9 Claims. c1. 24s--1This invention relates to cup holders, .and particularly to devices fortemporarily gripping and holding relatively soft and deformable cupssuch as cylindrical paperboard containers of a kind commonly used in thecarry-out of foods and beverages.

According to one aspect thereof, the instant invention contemplates anew use for containers of the class described whereby they may serve asdisposable outdoor floral vases, for example in, grave decoration. Thus,it is proposed that the cup holder of the present invention shall beconstructed and arranged for permanent. installation in the ground andshall provide means for temporarily receiving and gripping paperboardcontainers.

'The object of the invention is to simplify the aim struction as well asthemeans and mode of use of cup holders, whereby such holders may notonly be economically manufactured, but will be more efficient in use, ofrelatively long life, easily adaptable to diiferent cups, while havingrelatively few parts and be unlikely to get out of repair.

V A further object of the invention is to provide a cup holder of thekind described in which the cup or container can easily be mounted andas easily removed.

Another object of the invention is to provide interlocking means betweenthe holder and cup resisting accidental withdrawal or dislodgment of thecup from the holder, as by Windstorm.

A further object of the invention is to achieve the above mentionedinterlocking connection Without especially..constn1cted containers, it.being an accessory object in this connection to permitthe use of any ofthe standard forms of paperboard container in the present cup holder.

A still further object of the invention is to make the cup holder ofrelatively inexpensive material, such as sheet metal, which can bereadily stamped and formed and which is not subject to earlydeterioration from wear and the weather.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cup holder possessingthe advantageous structural features, the'linherent meritoriouscharacteristics and the mode of use herein mentioned.

. Withthe above primary and other incidental objects in view as willmore fully appear in the specification, the invention intended to beprotected by Letters Patent consists of the features of construction,the parts and combinations thereof, and the mode of operation, ashereinafter described or illustrated in the accompanying drawings, ortheir equivalents. 7

Referring to-the accompanying drawing, wherein is found one, butobviously not necessarily the only, form of embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation, partly broken away, of a cup holderin accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the invention, afragment of a cup being shown mounted therein;

Fig. 2 is a view in plan of a spider member comprised in the cup holder,after stamping but before forming;

Fig. 3 is a view in plan of the member of Fig. 2, after forming; and

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation of the member of Fig. 3.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters throughout the severalviews.

Referring to the drawings, a cup holder in accordance withthe'illustrated embodiment of the invention is constructed and arrangedfor installation in the ground. It comprises a cylindrical receptacle10, open at one end and closed at the other end except for drainopenings 11.

At the open end thereof, the receptacle 10 is providedwith' a peripheralflange 12. Thus, the receptacle 10 may be disposed within a hole in theground, the flange 12 limiting against the ground surface in a manner toV maintain the open or upper end of the receptacle substantially in theplane of such surface.

Dependent from the bottom of the receptacle 10 is an externallyprojecting, irregularly shaped member 14. The member 14 serves as ananchor, it being proposed that the holder be supported in spacedrelation with a concrete footer, with the member 14 embedded therein.

A spider or supporting member 15 is mounted in the. receptacle 10. It ismade up of a disc-like body portion 16 disposed ina plane normal to thelongitudinal axis of the receptacle, or in a manner to lie transverselyacross the interior of the receptacle near the open end thereof. Thebody portion 16 is concentric in the receptacle and is spaced from theWall thereof. Further comprised in the spider 15, and formed integrallywith the portion 16 is a circumferential series of circularly spaced,depend-' ing tongues 17. The extremities of the tongues 17 are expandedin a radial sense in order that they may contact the wall of thereceptacle, to which they are secured by spot welding, riveting or thelike.

In alternating relation to the tongues 17, and also formed integrallywith the body portion 16, is a series of tongues 18, there being spaces19 formed between the adjacent tongues 17 and 18. The tongues 18 arecircularly aligned with the base portions of the tongues 17,

but are shorter than the tongues 17, terminating above the expandedportions thereof. On the tip of each tongue 18 is an inclined wedgeformation projecting peripherally thereof, the several such formationscomplementing one another to define a discontinuous screw thread 21.

I The tongues 18 17 define, with the wall of the receptacle 10, a slot22 which opens through the open upper end of the receptacle.

A fragment of the cup to be held is shown in Fig. 1, where it is shownto be a known kind of paperboard container 23 having a closed bottomwall 24 and a downwardly projecting peripheral flange wall 25. Inmounting the cup 23 in the present cup holder, it is aligned therewithand the flange Wall 25 is inserted into the slot 22, being pressed inplace by an axial thrusting movement until the flange wall embraces atleast a part of the screw-. like or wedge projections 21. The cup 23 isthen rotated,

relativelyto the receptacle 10 and member 15. As a result of such motionthe screw-like projections 21 form corresponding screw threads in therelatively soft materialof the flange wall 25, interfltting with thesescrew threads and applying a reactant force to the cup 23 tending'todraw it downward toward a seat on the body portion 16. The cup 23 is inthis manner interlockingly engaged with the spider member 15, and isheld securely thereby in an erect position. The cup is detachable fromthe cup holder merely by applying rotative and axial forces which arethe reverse of those used in mounting the cup.

The receptacle 10 and spider member 15 may be made of any suitablematerials and by any convenient method.

and the base portions of the tongues The receptacle 10, for example, maybe drawn sheet metal. The member 15 may be a metal stamping, constructedin a first or stamping step to produce a semifinished article as shownin Fig. 2,.fllowed byrone or more forming steps producing the finishedarticle as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

From the above description it will be apparent that there is .thusprovided a device of the character described possessing the particularfeatures of advantage before enumerated as desirable, but whichobviously is susceptible of modification in its form, proportions,detail construction and arrangement of 'parts without departing from theprinciple involved or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Whilein order to comply with the statute the invention has beendescribed in language more or lessspecific as to structural features, itis to be understood that the invention is not'limited to the specificfeatures, shown, but that the means and construction herein disclosedcomprise but' one of several modes of putting the invention into effect.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A cup holder, including a receptacle open at one end andsubstantially closed at the other, and spider means installed in saidreceptacle intermediate the ends thereof, said spider means including adisc concentric with said receptacle and received therein with clearancebetween its outer edge and the wall of the receptacle, tongue element onsaid disc depending from the peripheral edge thereof toward the closedend of the receptacle and expanded radially at their lower extremitiesfor cooperative engagement with the wall of the receptacle, and aplurality of other tongues similarly depending from the peripherial edgeof said disc toward the closed end of the receptacle and spacedcircularly from said tongue element, said other tongues being formedwith cup engaging means integral therewith and arranged to anchor a cupin said receptacle on seating thereof to said disc.

2. A cup holder, including an open ended receptacle, a cup supportingmember concentrically mounted in said receptacle and having a bodyportion lying in a plane normal to the axis of the receptacle andfurther having a depending portion, said depending portion defining withthe internal wall of said receptacle an annular slot for receiving thebase edge of a service cup of paper or the like, and screw-like means onsaid depending portion for engaging the base edge of the service cup onrotative insertion thereof in the annular slot.

3. A cup holder, including a receptacle open-at one end thereof, a cupsupporting member concentrically mounted in said receptacle in invertedposition and having a body portion lying in a plane normal to the axisof the receptacle and further having a depending circumferential seriesof integral tongues, at least a portion of said tongues being off-setand in engagement with the Wall of the receptacle for mounting of saidsupporting member in said receptacle, and at least one other of saidtongues being formed with screw-like portions.

f 4. A cup holder, including a receptacle open at one end and adapted tobe seated in a hole in the ground, said receptacle having at said oneend an outwardly projectingflange engageable with the ground surface asit seats therein, an external projection on the other said end of saidreceptacle for anchoring of the receptacle in the ground a spidersupported in said receptacle and for seating a cup inserted in said oneend of the receptacle, and means on said spider for effecting aninterlocking engagement with the cup for peripherally and releasablyengaging of the cup in said receptacle as it is rotatively seatedtherein.

5. A holder for the releasable gripping and maintaining in an erectposition of a cup made of a deformable material, including a receptaclefor receiving the bottom of a cup through one end thereof, a spiderinstalled in said receptacle intermediate the ends thereof, and meanssaid supporting member projecting within said annularon said spider foreffecting a detachable interlocking engagement of the cup on rotativeapplication of the cup thereto.

6. A holder according to claim 5, characterized in that said last namedmeans comprises screw threads onsaid spider means forming andinterfitting with corresponding threads on said cup in response torelative rotation of said cup and spider means in one direction.

7. A cup holder for a cup having a depending circumferential base edgecomprising, a receptacle open at one end thereof, a spider mounted insaid receptacle and having circularly spaced means depending therefromand engaging said receptacle to define therewith a circular recess forreceivingthe depending circumferential base edge of a cup as it seats tosaid spider, a portion of said circularly spaced means having peripheralprojections of a wedge shaped nature projecting within said cupreceiving recess whereby on rotation of the cuprelative said receptacleas it is inserted to have its depending edge seat'in said recess, saidperipheral projections will anchor' to the cup and prevent dislodgementthereof.

8. A cup holder for a cup. having a depending circumferential base edgeincluding a receptacle open at one end and substantially closed at theother, an inverted cup-like element mounted to said receptacle in theopen end thereof, said element including a portion of lesser diameterthan said receptacle to define an annular slot therewith thereby forreceiving a depending circular base edge of a cup as it is seated tosaid receptacle, and means on the said cup-like element projecting insaid slot for engaging in the base edge of the cup on efiecting ascrewlike motion thereto on seating it in said receptacle.

9. A cup holder for a deformable service cup including, an open endedreceptacle, a cup supporting member concentrically mounted in saidreceptacle having a radially expanded portion engaged to the inner wallthereof providing an annular recess adjacent the inner wall of saidreceptacle to receive the depending base edge of a deformable servicecup therein, and anchoring means on recess in circularly spaced fashionfor anchoring to the service cup on rotative seating thereof to said cupsupporting member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

